Continuing an impressive run of performances, the Powell Panther girls’ basketball team continued its undefeated start in the 3A Northwest — defeating Worland 50-28 on Friday before heading on the road Saturday and dropping a difficult overtime contest to 3A Northeast opponent No. 2-ranked Buffalo 69-62.

POWELL 50, WORLAND 28

Finishing out a five-game homestand the Panthers (10-7 overall, 4-0 3A Northwest) welcomed the Worland Warriors (4-13 overall, 1-4 3A Northwest) on Friday.

Powell opened the game with starting guard Waycee Harvey coming off the bench after illness was rampant through the Panther program throughout the week.

In her place was Kami Jensen, who helped the Panthers start strong defensively against the Warriors.

Despite a slow start offensively, the Panthers led 12-5 after the first quarter when Catelynn Floy beat the buzzer — Maddie Campbell led the way with five points in the opening quarter.

“Any time that you score 10 points in a quarter is a pretty good quarter,” coach Chelsea Buher said. “Our goal is always to keep them under 10 points and for us to be over that.”

The lead remained within single digits early in the second quarter despite Saige Kidd also adding five points early, but the Panthers extended out to double-digits on an Addy Thorington 3-point play with under three minutes left.

Powell continued its strong play in the second quarter and took a 26-15 lead into the half.

A quick run made it a 15-point lead early in the third quarter, and a Harvey free throw made it a 35-15 game with 2:42 left in the quarter.

Floy again beat the buzzer in the third quarter with an acrobatic finish, keeping the lead at 20 points heading into the fourth quarter.

“The bigs are reading the play really well to see if they are open or if the other post player is open,” Buher said. “They are playing very unselfishly and feeding the ball to the open person and doing a better job of finishing.”

Powell pushed the lead out to as many as 25 before putting in the bench with minutes remaining in the 50-28 victory.

That victory ensured the Panthers at least the second seed out of the 3A Northwest at the regional tournament in Mountain View in just over two weeks.

Thorington led the Panthers with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Campbell and Floy both finished with nine. Floy also recorded five steals.

BUFFALO 69, POWELL 62 (OT)

After the victory on Friday the Panthers set out on the road Saturday, taking on No. 2-ranked Buffalo (13-3 overall, 3-0 3A Northeast).

Powell again had a different starting lineup for the contest, bringing Campbell off the bench early on.

Despite not starting Campbell the Panthers started out strong, leading 12-5 after the first quarter.

That lead held midway through the quarter at 16-7 before a timeout from Buher, and the Panthers held a 20-13 lead at the half.

Buffalo immediately cut the lead down to a point early in the third quarter, and eventually tied the game at 26.

Turnovers started to pile up for the Panthers, but they did not concede the lead throughout the run from the Bison.

“They are a very aggressive team, they don’t have the No. 2 spot for nothing,” Buher said. “They are quick and aggressive and you can’t make those silly mistakes.”

The game remained tied in the third quarter, until a 3-pointer by Thorington gave Powell a 36-33 lead going into the fourth.

Powell immediately scored five to start the quarter, making it an eight point game early in the final frame.

The lead remained at five with five minutes remaining before turnovers came back to haunt the Panthers once again.

In the final minute the Bison missed a shot to take the lead before fouling Campbell, who made both baskets to make it a two point game.

Buffalo answered, and Thorington answered once again to regain a two point lead.

On the other end Thorington picked up her fifth foul, and the Bison sank both shots to tie the game again at 56.

“Addy fouled out, that’s not the reason we lost,” Buher said. “When you take that factor out of the middle she was altering a lot of their shots whenever they brought it inside and they rely on their post play a lot.”

Campbell was called out on the sideline with 11 seconds left, but out of a timeout the Bison missed the shot and a jump ball gave the Panthers the ball with four seconds left to go the length of the court.

A midcourt shot by Campbell came up short and the game went into overtime.

In overtime Buffalo scored the first four, giving the Bison their first lead of the game.

Powell answered with four of its own, before Buffalo outscored the Panthers 9-2 in the final 1:20 to make the final score 69-62.

“We were hurrying and we have never been in that situation before,” Buher said. “You take those turnovers away and we earned the right to win that game and we came up a little short. Every one of the girls contributed to that game in some fashion and there wasn’t any one play that cost us that game.”

The Panthers finished with 33 turnovers in the game to only 16 for the Bison.

Campbell led the way with 15 points, while Floy and Megan Jacobsen both finished with 10.

SOUTHWEST OPPONENTS

Powell now heads on one of its longest road trips of the season, making the trip down to Lyman and Mountain View on Friday and Saturday.

Powell kicks off against the No. 5-ranked Lyman Eagles (14-4 overall, 2-2 3A Southwest) on Friday at 5:30 p.m.

The Panthers then get a chance to play in the 3A West regional gym two weeks before the tournament is set to kick off, taking on the Buffalos on Saturday at No. 3-ranked Mountain View (18-1 overall, 3-1 3A Southwest) at 11:30 a.m.

“I hope that our girls come out with that same mentality that they did against Buffalo,” Buher said. “It’s two games that technically don’t count but you want to set the tone for regionals … If they play at that pace and physicality we will see a lot of success going forward.”

POWELL 50, WORLAND 28

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Addy Thorington 12, Maddie Campbell 9, Catelynn Floy 9, Saige Kidd 7, Waycee Harvey 3, Alexa Richardson 2, Coy Erickson 2, Kami Jensen 2, Lauryn Bennett 2, Megan Jacobsen 2

Rebounds — Addy Thorington 7 (1), Saige Kidd 7 (2), Maddie Campbell 5 (4), Waycee Harvey 4 (3), Megan Jacobsen 4 (3), Kami Jensen 3, Catelynn Floy 2 (2), Kenzie Fields 1, Lauryn Bennett 1 (1), KoKo Baba 1 (1)

Assists — Addy Thorington 3, Maddie Campbell 3, Saige Kidd 2, Waycee Harvey 1, Kami Jensen 1, Kenzie Fields 1, KoKo Baba 1, Catelynn Floy 1

Steals — Catelynn Floy 5, Addy Thorington 3, Maddie Campbell 1, Kami Jensen 1, Megan Jacobsen 1

Blocks — Saige Kidd 2, Addy Thorington 1

BUFFALO 69, POWELL 62 (OT)

Points — Maddie Campbell 15, Catelynn Floy 10, Megan Jacobsen 10, Saige Kidd 8, Kami Jensen 8, Addy Thorington 7, Alexa Richardson 3, Coy Erickson 1

Rebounds — Addy Thorington 9 (1), Saige Kidd 6, Catelynn Floy 5 (1), Kami Jensen 4 (2), Waycee Harvey 3 (1), Maddie Campbell 3, Megan Jacobsen 3 (2), Alexa Richardson 1

Assists — Addy Thorington 4, Catelynn Floy 4, Waycee Harvey 3, Maddie Campbell 3, Alexa Richardson 2, Megan Jacobsen 2, Saige Kidd 1, Kami Jensen 1

Steals — Catelynn Floy 2, Alexa Richardson 1, Waycee Harvey 1, Maddie Campbell 1, Saige Kidd 1

Blocks — Addy Thorington 2